Friday, August 26, 2016

New Title

1) Sekercioglu, Çagan H. et al. (editors). Why Birds Matter: Avian Ecological Function and Ecosystem Services. 2016. University Of Chicago Press. Paperback: 387 pages. Price: $45.00 U.S.PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: For over one hundred years, ornithologists and amateur birders have
jointly campaigned for the conservation of bird species, documenting not
only birds’ beauty and extraordinary diversity, but also their
importance to ecosystems worldwide. But while these avian enthusiasts
have noted that birds eat fruit, carrion, and pests; spread seed and
fertilizer; and pollinate plants, among other services, they have rarely
asked what birds are worth in economic terms. In Why Birds Matter,
an international collection of ornithologists, botanists, ecologists,
conservation biologists, and environmental economists seeks to quantify
avian ecosystem services—the myriad benefits that birds provide to
humans.
The first book to approach ecosystem services from an ornithological perspective, Why Birds Matter
asks what economic value we can ascribe to those services, if any, and
how this value should inform conservation. Chapters explore the role of
birds in such important ecological dynamics as scavenging, nutrient
cycling, food chains, and plant-animal interactions—all seen through the
lens of human well-being—to show that quantifying avian ecosystem
services is crucial when formulating contemporary conservation
strategies. Both elucidating challenges and providing examples of
specific ecosystem valuations and guidance for calculation, the
contributors propose that in order to advance avian conservation, we
need to appeal not only to hearts and minds, but also to wallets.RECOMMENDATION: For those with an interest in avian/Human ecology.